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Introduction

Among the best-known wild animals are the cottontails and jackrabbits. These rabbits and hares are abundant in the brushy woods and gardens of eastern North America, on the western plains and deserts, on mountains, and even in the Arctic snows.

Pschemp

Many of the animals called rabbits, such as the jackrabbit, are actually hares. The hare is larger and heavier and has longer ears. With its longer hind legs and larger hind feet, it can outjump any rabbit and does not tire as quickly. Many hares turn white in the winter. Rabbits keep the same color coat year-round.

Hares and rabbits bear their young in very different ways. The female hare (called a doe) has two or three litters of young a year, with from four to six babies in each litter. She does not make a nest for her young. They are born in a flattened area, called a form, in the grass beneath a low branch or under a brush heap. Young jackrabbits may lie directly on the desert ground in the shade of a cactus or some other plant. Young hares are born with their eyes open and with dense fur on their bodies. They can care for themselves within a few days.

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A mother rabbit provides a nest by scraping out a hollow in the grass or moving into an old woodchuck hole. The young are born blind, naked, and helpless. The mother feeds the babies with her milk. When she goes for her own food, she hides the nest with leaves or grass. The baby rabbits open their eyes in about a week. In ten or 12 days they leave the nest. By the time they are 3 weeks old they can care for themselves. Rabbits have many litters from early spring to late fall. There are from four to six young in each litter. In the Southern states, rabbits bear young throughout the year. Male rabbits and hares (called bucks) pay no attention to the young.

Rabbits and hares are gnawing animals like rats, mice, and squirrels. They have the same type of strong, chisel-like front teeth.

Both rabbits and hares are well equipped to detect enemies. The long ears are very sensitive. Therefore these animals should never be lifted by their ears. They should be picked up by the loose skin of the neck with one hand while the other hand supports the body under the hind legs.

When the animal is at ease the ears lie quietly along its back. At the slightest sound its ears stand upright, waving backward and forward as they try to locate the danger. The nose too is sensitive. As the animal tries to get a scent, it twitches the nostrils and moves the head up and down in a worried manner.

Each large eye sees more than half a circle, and together the two eyes see in every direction. Thus a rabbit can watch an approaching hawk overhead and at the same time look for shelter.

The upper lip is split. That is why a deformity in the upper lip in human beings is called harelip. The tail is short, and in most rabbits and hares it stands erect. It has five toes on its forefeet and four on the hind feet. The paws, however, cannot turn inward to be used as hands like those of mice and squirrels.

Rabbits and hares feed at night and remain in the nest or form during the day. They are fond of all green growing things and have thus earned the reputation of doing great damage to gardens and field crops. In the winter they feed on the bark of trees and shrubs, on buds, and on berries.

In turn, they are the chief food of many animals, such as wolves, coyotes, lynxes, foxes, mountain lions, and wildcats. Owls and hawks prey on them, and red squirrels attack their young. Millions are killed by hunters every year.

How They Get Their Speed

To escape enemies, rabbits and hares rely chiefly on speed. When a hare or rabbit takes to flight it leaves the ground with a tremendous leap. For an instant its body is stretched out in a straight line. Then, while still in the air, it brings its hind legs forward until they reach beyond and above its head.

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While it is bunched in this position, its forepaws strike the ground, one ahead of the other. An instant later the hind legs strike on each side and ahead of the forefeet. Thus the animal is “coiled up” almost like a spring. It “uncoils” suddenly to make its next great leap. The tracks left by the feet form a pattern like a human face. The marks are blurred, because the feet are furry.

A frightened jackrabbit covers from 15 to 20 feet at a bound. Cottontails jump little more than eight feet, and they tire more quickly. Traveling at top speed, they may stop suddenly and jump in another direction. This trick has driven pursuing dogs headlong into barbed-wire fences and even over cliffs.

Hares and rabbits are timid, but they fight bravely in defense of their young and in self-defense. They may leap over the back of another animal or a snake, and give it a fierce kick with the hind legs. They bite if necessary.

A Menace to Crops

In spite of all their foes, rabbits and hares may increase rapidly enough to overrun large areas and destroy entire crops. In 1850 three pairs of the European rabbits were turned loose in Australia. Within a few years Australians wondered whether the descendants could be checked before they swept the country clean. Millions of dollars were spent for bounties and for devices for killing the rabbits or protecting the crops. New Zealand had a similar experience a few years later.

In the western United States jackrabbits increase enormously in numbers in five- to ten-year cycles and cause great damage to crops. At such times thousands are killed by poisoning and by organized hunts.

Cottontails and Other Rabbits

Cottontail rabbits inhabit much of the Western Hemisphere from southern Canada to South America. The animal gets its name from the fluffy snow-white underside of its tail. Cottontails vary from 14 to 18 inches in length and weigh from two to three pounds. Generally they are brown with buff sides and white under parts.

They live in any kind of country where they can find brushy shelter. Under the brush they make trails by nibbling off plants at the base. Only a rabbit can see the trails in the summer, but they become very noticeable in the winter. Hunters often place snares across them. Along the trails each rabbit sits quietly in a form during the day, dozing, washing itself, but always alert for danger. When it is frightened it stamps the ground with a hind foot, perhaps to warn other rabbits. Probably they can feel the vibrations or hear the thumping.

American rabbits live alone. Each rabbit occupies a couple of acres and knows every square inch of it. European rabbits live in colonies in underground burrows called warrens. These rabbits have been introduced into the United States and are increasing in numbers in the East. The Southern states have swamp and marsh rabbits. They are darker than the cottontails, and their tails do not have white undersides. These rabbits are good swimmers. They do little harm to farmers, for they live on water plants.

Jackrabbits and Other Hares

The jackrabbits are the largest and best known of the American hares. They are more than 2 feet long and their ears are from 5 to 6 inches long. They weigh 4 to 6 pounds. Black-tailed jackrabbits are common on the open plains of the West. The white-tailed jackrabbits (prairie hares) live on the plains with the blacktail, but they range farther north and higher in the mountains. They are larger and weigh 6 to 8 pounds. This hare sheds its grayish-brown coat for a white pelt in winter.

Robb Hannawacker

The snowshoe hare, or varying hare ranges from the northern United States to the Arctic Circle. It is also found in the Appalachian Mountains. It is intermediate in size between the white-tailed and black-tailed jackrabbits. It is called a varying hare because it sheds its fur twice a year, becoming white in the fall and brownish-gray in spring. It is also called the snowshoe hare because in winter its large hind feet are covered with thick fur. This enables it to travel easily over soft, deep snow. The Arctic hare lives in the Far North. In the northern part of its range it keeps its heavy white coat throughout the year.

The European hare, 20 to 22 inches long, inhabits all parts of Europe except Ireland, Scandinavia, and Siberia. The Alpine hare, also called the blue or mountain hare, resembles the Arctic hare of America. It is found in Scandinavia and Siberia. Another species of hare lives only in Ireland.

Commercial Rabbit Raising

Rabbits are raised commercially for their meat and their fur. Fryer rabbits are slaughtered when they are about two months old. Older does and bucks are sold as roasters. The better grades of fur are called coney and are used for making coats and trimmings. The cheaper grades are used in the manufacture of felt hats and as linings for gloves and other objects. The United States imports pelts from Australia, New Zealand, France, and Belgium.

White rabbits are the most popular commercial type. The white rabbits best suited to meat and fur production are the Flemish giant, New Zealand, American, Beveren, French Silver, and Chinchilla. Angora rabbits are raised for their long, fine wool. This is spun into yarn for sweaters and scarves. Another popular breed is the Belgian hare (really a rabbit). The Patagonian is one of the largest, weighing from 12 to 16 pounds. The lop-eared rabbit has ears that are from 10 to 12 inches long and 6 inches wide. They hang down beside the head.

Among tumbling rock slides, high in the mountains of Europe, Asia, and Western North America, lives the pika, a close relative of the hares and rabbits. Its short legs, small rounded ears, and stumpy tail make it look like a small guinea pig. Its voice is a peculiar “bleat” unlike any other mammal.

Scientific Classification

Because of their gnawing teeth, rabbits and hares once were classified as rodents (Rodentia). But they differ from the others by having two small incisors (cutting teeth) behind the larger ones in the upper jaw. For this reason scientists now place them in a separate order, Lagomorpha. Within the order Lagomorpha, rabbits and hares belong to the family Leporidae. The scientific name of the eastern cottontail rabbit is Sylvilagus floridanus; marsh rabbit, S. palustris; swamp rabbit, S. aquaticus; black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus; snowshoe, or varying, hare, L. americanus; white-tailed jackrabbit, L. townsendii; Arctic hare, L. arcticus; European common hare, L. europaeus; mountain hare, L. timidus; European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. The pika belongs to another family, Ochotonidae. Its scientific name is Ochotona princeps.

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